Imagine walking up to a store, scanning a bar code, and getting instant online reviews.  Imagine getting special offers right before you walk into a restaurant, just by scanning a barcode.  Imagine scanning that same barcode and telling the world about your experience at that business.  As a business owner, did your heart just skip a beat?  Are you a Google Favorite Place?

Let’s get one thing straight, I am a Google Whore.  I love the company, and would possibly drop everything at a shot to work for them.  I also LOVE technology, the internet, and people.  Google has a very innovative way of connecting those three concepts, and I love them.  But Favorite Places on Google is something that scares me, well kinda…

Google has sent over 100,000 stickers to local businesses and listing them as a Google Favorite Place.  You can watch the trailer here.  These stickers contain a QR Barcode that looks like this.  Your smartphone scans the barcode and immediately takes you to the mobile business page of that establishment (another reason to get rid of your rotary phone).  The page contains reviews, contact info, and special promotions regarding that establishment.  While this technology seems awesome in face value, could it be bad for restaurants?

Spontaneity is Dead

Online sites like Yelp kill spontaneity.  Not that it’s totally a bad thing, but the days of “there is a new restaurant up the street, let’s go check it out” are over.  Now it’s “lets check it out ONLINE first.”  Consumers have the ability to be savvier this way, and it raises restaurant standards among consumers.  Which in the end, I believe betters us all, but the idea of being 100% spontaneous is dead.

Google Favorite Places takes this to a whole new extreme.  What if a consumer decides to try your restaurant on a whim, only to read a bad review right before walking in the door?  Does that stop a consumer in their tracks?  Probably not, but it will etch a pre-conceived notion in their minds.

Offer them SPECIALS!

I love specials, and I’m a sucker for a great happy hour.  It’s one of the main reasons we built UrbanBacon!  But am I really going to drive all the way to restaurant/bar to figure out a special?  No, but than again I live in St. Louis, MO…we are forced to drive almost everywhere.

In a bigger city, I could see this being beneficial.  You walk by a Google Favorite Place, scan the barcode, and instantly get special offers.  This may increase spontaneity and entice new customers to stop.  On the flip side of the coin, you could be offering discounts to customers who were going to pay full price anyways.  They are already at your front door about to walk in.  They had full intentions of paying full price, and now you just lost on profits.  Do you assume that risk?

Do You Track Your Marketing Efforts?

One of the greatest tools Google has ever invented is Analytics.  While there is not a separate analytics page for Favorite Places yet, it’s coming.  This could be a HUGE benefit.  You can track who scans your barcode, which links they click, and watch your marketing efforts.  If Google combines Analytics with actual sales, this will be EXTREMELY beneficial for restaurant owners.  Imagine tracking your ROI in real time…now that’s innovative!

Google Favorite Places is still an infant.  Quite frankly, they are still only testing the product.  Most QR scanners for smartphones are having problems scanning barcodes.  What do you guys think, innovative or too much Big Brother?

Why where The Romans such a dominate army?

One Reason: The Gladius aka “the sword that conquered the world”

This technology allowed soldiers to dish massive amounts of damage to opponents that leveled entire armies!  When was the last time your iPhone conquered Greece?  It’s funny how a simple technological advancement can be so powerful.  Sounds like Twitter, right?

We all know Twitter is a powerful networking tool.  That’s not a secret.  Just like the double edge sword, its also has an incredibly simple design.  This in return, deserves a simple approach.  There is no magic bullet to killing Twitter, but we can let you in on a secret tactic that works, keep reading…

The Nature of Twitter and Specials

Twitter is entirely user based.  Without users the service dies.  Therefore, the nature of Twitter follows natural human behavior.  We all want deals/specials and we will jump through hoops to get them.  Getting hooked up makes us feel special, destroys buyer remorse, and keeps us coming back.  Face it, by nature we are suckers for great deals.

Yet, we don’t want to be sold, because that just sucks.  So how does a restaurant offer deals without selling?  What is the super secret trick to posting ninja specials?  Are you ready for it?

The Super Secret Ninja Tweet Example:

“RT this and we will send you a coupon for…”

Profound, huh?  Not really…we told you Twitter deserves a simple approach.  But this single tweet alone can be a double edge sword, here’s why:

1.  The coupon = exposure = more customers to your restaurant

2.  Since they must RT to get the coupon, it encourages everyone of their followers to RT it also

Wondering what this can do for your followers and email lists?  Say someone RT’s you in order to get the coupon, which means it’s time for a ninja move.

@mention them saying:

“Totally pumped to send you our coupon, please DM me your email.”

In order to DM someone, they must follow you.  See where the hoops are leading?  Once they DM their email to you, send them their coupon immediately.  They have deserved it.

Do not forget to rehash by asking them:

“Do you wish to receive coupons in the future to this email?”

If they agree, consider this a sign up for your email list =) In a matter of seconds you have gained a customer, follower, and email subscriber. Some may call this gaming the system…I call it brilliant marketing.  After all, you are offering the consumer something they want, for free.

WARNING:  Yes, this works.  It’s effective as The Roman’s double-edged sword.  But even a powerful nation like Rome became arrogant and fell. Use this technique sparingly as ALL your marketing efforts on Twitter. Twitter makes a better customer service platform anyways.  It’s all about meeting people and listening.  95% of your Tweets should be talking to people, the other 5% can be marketing.

@RizzoTees once told me to respect the twitterverse, and it will show you love.  I believe that wholeheartedly.  In tha words of Ali G – “Respect!”

DO you guys know any other effective Twitter tips?  Leave your comments below or share this!

Foursquare is a social networking game that allows users to “check-in” at their current GPS location.  There are 2 ways to look at this:

• A silly geolocation game
• A POWERFUL marketing tool

You could be missing out on significant customer traffic by ignoring Foursquare.  It is tremendously powerful.  Getting customers into your restaurant is half the battle!  Here are the top 5 reasons your restaurant needs FourSquare:

1. Friendly Competition is HEALTHY!

As humans, we naturally want to compete.  It’s written into our psychological code, we cannot resist the temptation to win.  Never underestimate the power of human competition.

Foursquare promotes this natural competition.  Whoever checks into a place the most, becomes The Mayor of that place.  A title, that’s it.  What comes with this title?  Bragging rights…which is the underlying principle behind friendly competition.  Promote the power of competition and watch your doors swing wide open.

2. Do You Drive a Nice Car?

Remember that one guy in college?  He was out every night, at every party, all the formals, and always looking for “face time.”  That guy was party and perceived as highly sociable.  He has tons of friends and knows the entire campus.  He is popular.

As much as we hate to admit it, we long to be that guy.  Even in grade school the kid with the newest pair of Air Jordan’s was cool.  It follows us well into old age.  Why do you want to drive a Mercedes Benz?

FourSquare creates competition for social status.  The more you check into different restaurants and clubs, the higher your social status.

Now I understand you might be skeptical.  Foursquare may not be the platform that gains 350 million users like Facebook.  But a Geo-location game will be dominant in the future, and its users will be competing for social status.

3.  To Start a Fire, You Need a Spark

Someone will eventually become Mayor of your restaurant.  Why not promote it?  Offer a free drink or food incentive to becoming Mayor.  This encourages 2 things:

• Competition among customers to visit
• A small reward for a big payoff

Everyone loves free drinks…it’s a no-brainer.  One free drinks leads to another, which leads to friends meeting up, which means more money in your pocket.  Since most FourSquare users are also on Twitter, make sure to tweet about the offer.  You need to set the spark, engage your community, and watch the fire grow as customers compete for free drinks.

Side Note:  You can also run competitions like this inside your bar.  The price of one free drink is small compared to everyone else who is buying.

4. What’s the Word on the Street?

It’s no secret, word of mouth (WOM) is jet fuel for your restaurant.  The industry relies heavily on WOM.  How do you think ultra successful restaurants survive?  Simple: they are the talk of the town.

When FourSquare users check in, it updates all their Twitter followers.  This creates an element of social proof, which is the main factor behind WOM.  Humans generally trust each others opinions.  By physically checking in, they are telling other people “Hey, I approve of this place, check it out!”  Their followers may even ask about the experience.  It becomes a rapid fire string of promotions, which can lead to the final goal: getting more customers in your restaurant.

5. Wanna Meet for a Drink?

Think about it, Foursquare tells friends where you are.  This creates spontaneous meet ups.  This is the reason Geo-location is so powerful for restaurants.  Telling all your followers you’re at work is not the same as being at a bar.

Friends are much more likely to meet up at restaurants or bars.  They are social places and great for gathering.  Checking in on FourSquare is just like saying “Hey, come meet up!”  That means more traffic for your restaurant, and more sales.  Like I’ve said, getting people in the door is half the battle.

What do you guys think?  Is FourSquare a powerful marketing tool or just a silly game?  Do you think it is under rated?  Over rated?  Share your comments below!

Transparency:  We are in no way affiliated with FourSquare, just so you know:)

Situation:  Thursday around 3:30pm at the office

Your friends begin talking at the office.  Forwarding emails, sending texts, and g-chatting. You guys decide to hit up $5 buckets…bonus!

6pm rolls around and happy hour ends.  The last thing you remember eating was a bag of Doritos from the vending machine.  That was 5 hours ago.  What do you do?

A couple of your friends are ready to rock.  It’s Thursday night, and we all know Fridays are pseudo work days anyways.  One problem:  Where should you go?  Do you know of anything going on?  Welcome to mobile advertising my friends!

The iPhone changed the game…

On July 29, 2007 Apple released their first version of the iPhone.  Before this release, smart phones were for checking email and Microsoft Office.  Web browsing was primitive before MobileSafari.  The old Blackberry and Razr are jokes compared to the iPhone release.

Mobile users now search the web anywhere.  They download content, stream live media, and search for restaurants while completely mobile. This technology has been available to us for only 3 years (give or take).  That’s it!

What does this mean as a restaurant owner?

If 89% of consumers research a restaurant online, think of the mobile capabilities in the future.  Someone in that happy hour group will have an iPhone, and they will search online for something to do.  It will be on the fly, and totally spontaneous.  It might be on Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, UrbanBacon, etc…but mark my word, they will be looking online.

It’s ALREADY happening!

What do you notice when people are out and about?  They are constantly staring at their iPhones either texting, surfing, or chatting.  Never before have we been this connected.

The Kelsey Group projects some AWESOME numbers to prove this theory.  They predict local mobile search advertising revenues to increase from $20 million to $1.3 billion by 2013.  That is a HUGE increase in advertising dollars!

Advertising dollars shift to where people are looking.  If people are searching for local places on their iPhones, than that’s where the dollars will go.  This prediction alone tells you that people will be searching for your restaurant from their phones.  These people are on-the-go and highly spontaneous to trying new places.

Put your restaurant in a winning position

You must get on social networking platforms.  You must start a blog.  Your website needs to be simple to navigate for mobile users.  It must be up to date.  It must promote your menu.  Ditch the flash sites, smart phones do not support them (yet).

People will be on-the-go and actively looking for specials or promotions.  As a restaurant owner, the cost of entry is way too cheap to neglect.  You need to be on every local platform possible.  All it takes is time…now get out there and crush it!

What do you guys think?  Have you noticed anyone coming into your restaurant because they found you on their smart phone?